


I'm a Book Not a Cover

by alys24



Category: Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris
Genre: Delinquent Sookie, F/M, Police Officer Eric, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-20
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-13 22:44:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3398978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alys24/pseuds/alys24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eric Northman is a loner police officer who enjoys his job. Sookie Stackhouse fights for justice on the streets of the city she lives in, but perhaps she isn't what he thinks she is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That's Not Your Job

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chapter, but I already have a second chapter ready to go, that I will post probably at the beginning of next week.  
> Any way, I hope you enjoy it :)

"What seems to be the problem, Mr Compton?" Officer Eric Northman asked the furious shop keeper. 

Eric had been called out to this shop five minutes ago, but the dark haired man - with very pale skin yet a purple face - had obviously been dealing with the sound of the woman’s singing for much longer than that when he let Eric in through the back door.

The angry little man snarled at him. "That little- little skank is menacing my customers! She’s been out there for over an hour, bellowing her inane crap at every one who walks by- people are scared to come near my shop!"

"Sir, there is no need for name calling.” Compton’s face turned a darker shade of purple. “I'll go see what I can do."

He made a small grunt of agreement. “Good.” He went out into the back of the building, slamming the door behind him.

The girl was being loud. She was singing outside the shop door, something about Little Miss Muffet sitting on a wall and having a great fall, and he was pretty sure she was headbanging.

"Miss!” Eric attempted to get the girl’s attention. “Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the premises." 

She turned to look at him full in the face, stopping her song immediately. "Why?" She demanded, clearly a little tipsy, but not nearly as drunk as he would have imagined for someone being so loud.

"Miss, you've been disturbing this man's shop for the last hour." He looked her up and down. 

She was in some tight dark jeans and an oversized t-shirt and coat. She had blonde hair with blue streaked through it, dark eye-liner and a tattoo peeking out from underneath her collar. She really looked no less out of place in the dark, dank, slimy street than the rubbish bin under the closest street light, in spite of her pretty, if slightly grubby, face.

"Do you know why? Or did he neglect to tell you that?" She stared him down in spite of the fact that she was about half his size, her clear blue eyes showed no sign of relenting.

"Miss-" Eric tried very hard to stay on point. He was slowly deciding that this is probably something she did often. 

"He refused to serve a woman today, because she was wearing a hijab. He just sent her right out of the store." 

"Miss, I can have a word with him, but you need to leave here, or I will be forced to remove you." Her stubborn face slowly fell.

“Just talk to him, ok? He has no right to do that.”

“I will.” He promised, solemnly.

“Fine.” She turned and walked away from him.

“Miss- Miss!”

“Yeah?” She turned back to face him, a little pout on her face.

“It’s late, you shouldn’t walk home alone. I’ll give you a lift, just let me talk to him.”

“Fine.” She said again and leant against the wall sighing, before he went inside.

“Sir! Sir!” he called, walking through the aisles of the shop, looking for Compton.

“WHAT? What do you want?” He found him in the store cupboard.

Eric was glad he was so patient. “Sir, I’ve asked her to stop, and she has complied.” He said calmly.

“Good.” The man grumbled.

“But she is right. You cannot refuse to serve someone for their religion. Don’t let me hear of you doing that again.” Eric used his height to tower over him. This kind of man didn’t belong in a position where he had power over other people, and Eric wished he could do something about it. For now, he’d have to settle for intimidation.

“Fine. Whatever.” The small man turned away, effectively ending the conversation, and Eric left the shop to find the blonde girl.

“Miss, my car’s this way,” he told her when he found her standing where he’d left her, and gestured in the right direction.

“My name’s Sookie, you know. Sookie Stackhouse.”

“Sookie.” He smiled, he liked it, it suited her. “Eric Northman.” He shook her hand.

“Take me home, then, Officer,” she smiled back at him. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the way she called him “officer.”

As he led her to his car he told her “I don’t think Mr Compton will be being racist again any time soon, by the way.”

“Good. I hate dicks like that. ‘Scuse my language.”

“Get in the car, Sookie, I should get you home before you do something I have to arrest you for.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” she muttered, then louder – “She didn’t even do anything, it was so unnecessary, he could have just served her and kept his mouth shut.”

“I know. But you can't enact your own justice. That's not really how this works.” He opened the car door for her, and shut it behind her before getting into the driver’s seat. She was pouting a little bit at his admonishment. “Directions?”

She pointed him this way and that, taking him – he was sure it was the long way round – to a nice block of apartments in a surprisingly upscale part of town. “This is where you live?”

“Yeah. What of it?” She was immediately defensive, and he was sorry that he’d commented.

“Nothing, sorry. I didn’t mean-”

“Yeah, I knew exactly what you meant.” Her voice had turned cold. “Goodbye, Officer.” She clambered out of the car and slammed the door behind her.

He shook his head, but drove away. She didn’t matter to him, even if she caused problems again, his precinct was large, he doubted he’d see her again.


	2. Chapter 2

Aude was exactly like her mother. Pam’s kid was equally as stubborn as she was, and Aude wanted to go to the charity fair that was going on in the local park, so that’s where Eric was taking her.

Damn Pam and her date-days.

But at least Olivia was a good second mom to Aude.

“Eric, Eric, I want a cake, please.” Well at least she said please. He guessed you couldn’t ask much more from an eight year old.

“Ok, Audy. What kind of cake?”

“Strawberry.” She decided after thinking about it for a moment with a little nod of her blonde head.

“Strawberry. Ok. Fair enough.” He smiled at her, let go of her hand and handed her five dollars so that she could have a wander around the stalls.

The fair was full of colourful stalls, all evenly spaced and bright, and small children were running between them. Aude was tall enough that he could spot her between the tables, and she was clearly excited about how much pink there was around. 

He watched her carefully, making sure she was ok, but also looking for things he might find interesting to do. As far as he could tell, there was a raffle and that was about it for the adult activities, but he paid for a few tickets.

“What’re the prizes?” he asked the girl at the booth.

“Erm, there’s a couple of hampers, a holiday and a pre-paid date with the head of our charity. She’s pretty awesome, I reckon you’d have fun,” she smiled at him. “She’s not like most bossy CEOs. But at the very least it’s a free meal.”

“Eric!” Aude’s voice made him turn around. “Eric I got you a chocolate cake.”

“Thanks Audy,” he gave her a smile and took the cake. “Do you know what your mommies are up to today?”

“Yeah, they’re going shopping and to dinner later. Momma Pam said you should go out soon too.”

“Did she?” Damn his sister, not everyone married their high school sweet heart like she had. “I’m not sure if that’ll happen, Audy. We’ll see.”

“Ok. I’m gonna go do bouncy castle.”

“Ok, Aude. Have fun.” She ran away towards it, and Eric turned to carry on looking around the stalls, pausing at a candle booth, considering one for Pam and Olivia’s anniversary.

He was just looking at the cakes again when Aude called him back over to the raffle stall.

“Eric! They’re picking the tickets!”

He walked over to her and picked her up. At some point her face had gotten absolutely covered in chocolate, which she promptly wiped on his t-shirt. “Thanks, Aude.”

He watched them pull out the tickets and two women who were picked went for the holiday and one of the hampers.

“The next ticket is… four-seven-six.”

Aude squealed. “I got that one! That’s my one!”

“Aude, you bought raffle tickets?” Eric looked at her amazed, and she opened the hand that contained about twenty screwed-up numbered tickets.

“Uhhuh,” she grinned. “I pick the date,” she told the girl. “For Eric.” The moms around the table laughed loudly.

Eric felt his face going red. “Aude…”

“Hey, dude, the lady picks, she won.” The girl who ran the booth picked out the last ticket, and the other hamper was given away.

Eric was given a card with the details of the date on, where it would be and what time and date, and an example of what he could wear. He sighed, and left promptly with Aude.

“Eric, what’s wrong?” she said, in her little girl nervous-voice which said that she thought she’d done something wrong and was scared he was upset with her.

“Nothing, Audy,” he smiled at her gently as he belted her into her car seat. “Don’t worry about it.”

She was quiet on the drive back to Pam’s, as was Eric, stewing in his embarrassment.

He cooked her dinner and put on a Disney film for Aude to watch while she waited and while she ate, and tried to not be upset with her.

Around eight o’clock, Pam and Olivia let themselves into their house. He knew they were back when he heard Pam’s loud laughter from the living room, while he was doing the washing up.

“Eric, I hear you’ve got a date!” Pam’s voice grated.

“Yes. Thanks to your daughter.”

“Oh, Eric, you know she didn’t mean it in a bad way. She just wanted to do something nice for you.”

“Only because you mentioned it to her.”

“Oh, she told you that…”

“Yeah, she did.” He grumbled.

“Well, it’s true-”

“Pam!” Olivia cut her off, walking into the kitchen and picking up the tea towel so she could dry the things he’d washed. “Pam didn’t mean it that way, either.” She told him. “She was just saying that it might be nice if you could go out for a drink with her at some point, Aude must have just misunderstood.” That last was stated with a meaningful look at Pam, as though telling her to not disagree.

Pam sighed and pulled a bottle of wine and two glasses from a cupboard. “I take it you don’t want one, brother?”

Eric shook his head. “I have to drive.”

"Well, stay for a chat anyway?"

"No. I need to go home and have dinner, I'm pretty tired." Eric shook his head at his sister. 

"Fine," she sighed, but walked him to the door.

"See you later, Pammy. Tell 'Livs and Aude I said bye." Pam nodded and shut the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

He spent the rest of the night trying to shake off his embarrassment, and the next day he dreaded work - some of the moms who had been at the fair he'd recognised as the wives of some of his colleagues. As far as he knew, none of his female colleagues had been there, so at least they'd only hear about it second hand.

Eric went straight to his desk when he got in to work, and buried his head in paperwork, ignoring the sniggers he could hear coming from all around him.

After a short while, he realised he could hear an argument coming from the cells, and, as his desk was closest, got up to see what was going on.

There were two girls in the cells, at each others throats, fortunately not literally. He recognised the blonde and blue hair of the girl who'd caused trouble outside Mr Compton's corner shop and the other girl was a brunette he'd not seen before.

"Miss Stackhouse, what are you doing?" He shouted to get their attention, over their hisses and growls.

"This- this cow," he could tell it took her a lot of effort to use such a PG word, "has been sitting here using misogynistic, homophobic slurs for the last hour." She growled again. A little voice in the back of his head said that she looked gorgeous when she was angry. He ignored it. "Let me out, I was only meant to spend a night here."

He sighed but told her he'd be right back. He went to find her paperwork, to find out if she could actually be released, and did the same for the brunette.

Incidentally, Sookie could go, the brunette, called Tara, couldn't.

He strode back to the cells, and found Sookie waiting with a pout in her face, by the door.

He led her to his desk, "You're free to go, but I'd like a word."

"Ok, what's up?" Now that she was away from Tara, she tried a little smile at him. She sat on the edge of his desk.

She was wearing jeans and a large baggy t-shirt again, today. She almost seemed to drown in the fabric, the short sleeves ended at her elbows. Her hair was messy and her make-up was smeared, but she didn't look self-conscious, she just smiled at him.

"What're you in for this time?"

"I was too loud on a street, and the officer seemed to think I deserved to come here."

"Miss Stackhouse, you do this regularly, don't you?"

She nodded and said - quietly, but with conviction - "I don't like seeing people treated unfairly."

He frowned at her a little, and bobbed his head. "I can understand that, but you can't do this every night. You'll earn yourself a reputation."

"Officer, I already have one." Her voice was surprisingly gentle. "I know what you think of me, but honestly, you're wrong. You don't know what I'm like, all you see is a delinquent little punk girl. Here are some facts you might like: I'm twenty three, I own my own apartment in a really good part of town, my parents died when I was seven years old. I've been through more than you know, and honestly, more than I'm willing to tell you."

He nodded, and looked at his knees, feeling a little ashamed.

"You don't know me. I know that you're only trying to do your best, but people like Compton and that cow need to be stopped from ruining other people's lives," she concluded, clasping her hands in her lap as though the matter was closed.

"I know they do, I know, but it's not your job Sookie. And you could end up in a lot of trouble."

She nodded, but sighed, making him think that she'd ignore him.

"Ok, I'll let you go, Sookie. Stay safe."

She nodded and got up to leave. That voice that he'd ignored earlier told him that she had a really nice ass.

He shook his head and got back to his paperwork, trying to concentrate again.

When lunch came, the comments started.

"Hey Northman, you looking forward to your date?" Herveaux asked, grinning.

"Yeah, shut up."

He did his best to ignore them and sat at his desk in silence while he ate. He supposed he should be grateful the date was so soon, only tomorrow night - the mocking would be done sooner.

The restaurant they were going to was one of Eric's favourites, that's part of the reason he was going. The other part was that he didn't think it was fair to stand this woman up, she probably didn't want to do it any more than he did.

Eric had been given a little card to give to the host in the restaurant so that he could be led to the table. He was apprehensive about using it, really.

He finished his lunch and got back to work, attempting to keep his mind off of the impending meal.

 

* * *

 

The restaurant was a really really nice one, with both booths and tables, and low lighting, and a menu that wasn't too fancy, but still definitely good enough if you wanted to come here for a date.

He was wearing a nice black suit, with a white shirt and a slim black tie, and he'd left his hair a little messy.

Pam had approved, so he thought that it probably looked ok.

He was a little early, so he wasn't surprised to find that his date wasn't here yet when the hostess led him to their table. The restaurant was fairly busy, and the conversation level created a low buzz, so there was a nice atmosphere.

He ordered a beer while he waited, and ran a hand through his hair nervously, deciding to really try and get along with this woman. _She's the CEO of a company, she must be intelligent at the very least_ , he told himself as he sipped his beer.

"Here we are, Miss," the hostess arrived, and Eric stood to get his date's chair, and his jaw dropped.

"Miss Stackhouse."

"Officer Northman!" She smiled up at him, and he found it was infectious.

He pulled out her chair for her, and then returned to his own, shaking his head a little in an attempt to rid himself of surprise.

"Please, call me Eric," he told her, once he'd sat down. The hostess had vanished, presumably to seat another party.

"Then you gotta start calling me Sookie full time," she smiled. 

 _She really is pretty,_ he thought, as he took her in. She was wearing her blonde and blue hair up in a loose bun which left little bits to hang down the sides of her face. Her make-up was heavier than he'd seen her wearing before, with dark, smoky eye-shadow and dark red lipstick on her full lips. Sookie's dress was mostly black lace, with a sweetheart neckline underneath a panel of the almost-sheer material. He'd seen that it was backless when he'd pulled out her chair and she'd taken off her coat, glimpsing a tattoo that was bigger than the one he'd seen on her shoulder, now obscured by the lace.

He wanted to see those tattoos a little more closely, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure that was appropriate for a first date. He pushed the voice away again, deciding that he was going to try not to think about how well the dress framed her large chest, or how he was sure that the rest of her curvy body was equally fantastic underneath the dress.

Sookie ordered herself a coke and patted down her skirt.

"Ok, Sookie," he smiled shyly at her, and tried to start a conversation to rid his mind of his less than innocent thoughts. "So you're the CEO-"

"Of Bears from Care, yeah." She tilted her head to look at him.

"What made you set up the charity?"

"I wanted to let kids who come from broken homes or who've been abused or harmed know that there are many people who care about them." Sookie's answer came like she'd practised it for an interview.

"I think that's awesome," he smiled at her gently, not sure if that was the full story, but he wasn't going to press it.

"I told you there was more to me than meets the eye," she picked up the menu and scanned it ,breaking the eye contact that they'd had since he'd finished taking her in.

He looked down at his own menu, already pretty sure what he was having, and when he looked up again, he saw Sookie quickly stop watching him and return her eyes to her laminated card.

"I think I'll have the Everything Cheese Burger," she told him, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I was thinking that too."

"So, Officer-" he raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly corrected herself, "So, Eric, you already know lots of things about me, tell me about you." 

"I'm twenty-seven, I have a sister called Pam who's married to a woman called Olivia, and they have an adopted child called Aude-"

"Oh, the one who had the ticket," she grinned, slyly.

"Oh, good, you heard about that," he sighed dramatically.

"Of course! Amelia - who ran the stall - was dying to tell me about the adorable little girl who got a date for her daddy- that's what she thought you were at the time."

Eric nodded and smiled gently. "Yeah, I'll have to thank Aude for that properly tomorrow."

Sookie blushed, picking up on the compliment. "What else should I know about you?" she asked.

"My family is very nosy, but my parents live in Sweden most of the time, so they don't get the chance to stick their noses in most things." He paused and nodded at Sookie's questioning raised eyebrow. "I'm originally from Sweden, so I speak fluent Swedish, but we came to live here when I was eight, and my parents moved back two years ago when my granddad got sick."

She nodded. "I was raised by my Gran, she lives in a little house just outside the town, so I've lived here all my life. My job takes me to New York quite a lot though, and New Orleans sometimes too, we have other bases there. I have a brother, and his name is Jason, he's twenty-six, we're not close."

"Are you single?" he asked her, and she blushed again. He thought he'd at least imply he was interested in a second date.

"Yeah, I am. I broke up with my ex, Sam, about four months ago. We were together for two years."

"I'm sorry," Eric said, sympathetically. "I've only had one serious relationship, and it didn't end very well. Our relationship wasn't good for either of us."

Sookie nodded, and the waitress came over to ask for their order.


	4. Chapter 4

He was quite amused by the way she ate her burger. 

Sookie turned her burger upside down so that the top of the bun was on the bottom, and she made sure that she held the bottom so that nothing could slip out. He grinned at her, she was obviously well practised at eating giant burgers. 

Sookie asked Eric if he wanted dessert, and when he answered, she asked the waitress to get them dessert menus. She decided pretty quickly on the New York cheesecake, and he ordered the hot fudge brownie before continuing their conversation. 

"So what do you like to do in your spare time, Sookie? You know, aside from getting yourself arrested." 

She stuck her tongue out at him, with a smile, and he couldn't help but think how he wanted to taste it. "I like watching movies, and playing video games. I like drawing too; I drew my tattoos, and mostly I have them because they're pretty."

He nodded and smiled. "I never mentioned, but I really like your hair. It suits you."

"Thanks," she grinned. "I like to express myself through my appearance, you know? I got my first tattoo when I was eighteen, my first piercings when I was ten," he raised an eyebrow at the implication that she had more than just her ears pierced, and she ignored it. "-and dyed my hair for the first time when I was thirteen. Gran wasn't happy with the red, so she had me bleach it blonde again. So what do  _you_ like to do outside of arresting poor innocent lil' girls like me?" She smirked.

"I babysit my niece, and hang out with my sister and her wife. Other than that, mostly the same as you, minus the drawing. I have an xbox and a playstation and a heavy duty PC. It's pretty awesome. Maybe we could play something, sometime."

"Maybe," she smiled in an encouraging way.

Once they'd finished the dessert, Eric fumbled awkwardly. "I don't know what the protocol is for this, to be honest."

"We can leave, this meal was donated to the charity for our raffle."

"Ok," He left a tip on the table, and stood to get his coat. "How did you get here?"

"Taxi. I can get another home-"

"I can drive you, if you'd like."

"Sure," she smiled at him and he gestured in the direction of the door, and walked behind her out to his car, opening the door for her once they got there. 

"You'll have to direct me, again, I think, I'm not sure I could remember too well where to go," he said, after he got into the car.

"Well, I should think you'll have to learn if you plan on taking me out again." She smirked at him, and he grinned at her before they set off. 

Once outside the block of apartments where Sookie lived, he told her "I think I could find my way back, if you'd-" 

She cut him off with a kiss. She was leaning across the console, a hand reached up to turn his face towards her. 

Her lips were soft but insistent, and he returned her kiss, meeting her tongue with his own after she licked his bottom lip. One of his hands rose to the back of her head, and his fingers tangled in the loose hair beneath her bun.

He pulled back a little, shifting in his seat to get a better angle, before pressing his lips back against hers in a lingering peck. 

"Eric?" Sookie asked, with a little twinkle in her eye. 

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to come in for a drink?" 

"Sure," he smiled at her, glad he didn't have to work tomorrow. 

She moved away from him to get out of the car, and Eric did the same, following her into the lobby of the building. 

The inside was even nicer than the outside, the floor was marble, and the doorman tilted his head to Sookie when she smiled at him. 

She took Eric's hand on the way to the elevator, and pressed the button for the top floor. "I swear I don't take money from the charity or anything, I got left a lot by my parents, and I was fortunate to have a lawyer in charge of my money who made good investments for me." 

"That hadn't occurred to me," he smiled at her. 

She turned to face him, "I've never brought anyone back here before."

"If you'd like me to, I can say good night to you at your door?"

"No, I have a good feeling about you." She dropped her head to look at the floor. 

 "You're really beautiful, Sookie," he tilted her face back up so she'd look at him. He wasn't sure why she was suddenly shy.

"Thank you," she smiled. "You look incredible in that suit."

"Thanks," he leant down towards her and kissed her softly, his tongue dragging lightly over her bottom lip as he sucked on it.

The kiss grew more urgent, and she pressed her tongue into his mouth, exploring. She moaned at his taste, and pulled him closer, her nails digging into his back through his suit jacket. 

Eventually, he moved his hands to her thighs so that he could lift her and press her against the wall. 

"Eric-" she gasped, and he moved his mouth to her throat to let her breathe. "Eric, we're in a lift!" 

He chuckled against her skin, and nipped it before he set her down. He kissed her on the lips once more before the elevator slowed to a stop and dinged.

She led him to the only door in the short hall, and unlocked it. "Welcome to my humble abode," she winked at him, opening the door and gesturing for him to go inside.

Her apartment was gorgeous, open plan, built mostly from glass and a dark coloured wood. She pointed out the small corridor on the other side of the living area that she said led to her bedroom and the guest bathroom and bedroom.

"Would you like a drink? I've got Jack, coke, juice, beer, water, cider, maybe a bottle of wine somewhere..." 

"Uhh, a coke please," he smiled at her and sat when she gestured towards the sofa. "Your apartment is awesome, Sook," he called over the back of the sofa towards her.

"Thanks," she smiled at him and brought him his drink. "Do you wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, what've you got?"

She gestured towards the TV stand that had shelves underneath to hold CDs and DVDs. He crouched to have a look, noting the number of Disney films.

"How about this one?" He held up 'The Jungle Book' for her approval and she grinned.

"Sure."

She directed him in how to use the DVD player, sipping her Jack and Coke and he sat down next to her when the film started rolling.

Sookie unsubtly moved closer to him, and when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders she laid her head on his chest.

"Eric?" She asked quietly.

"Sookie?"

"Will you kiss me again?"

He paused to think about it. "At some point, I'm sure." He kept a straight face, staring intently at the screen.

She sighed and grabbed his chin to pull his face to hers and planted kiss on his mouth.

He grinned and kissed her again. "Pushy little thing, aren't you?" He pulled her on top of him so she was straddling his hips, and cupped the back of her head so he could pull her down to kiss him again.

She pulled away a little. "Erm, I don't wanna- I mean, it's our first date, I-"

"It's fine, Sook, I'm happy doing anything you fancy," he smiled reassuringly. 

She smiled back at him again, shyly and leaned down to kiss him again. Her hands rested lightly on his chest, and his on her hips, and they kissed for a while, sometimes pausing at bits in the film. 

When the credits rolled, Eric smiled at her softly. "I guess I should go." 

"Yeah, I guess." She climbed off him gracefully, and picked up his glass, to put it in the kitchen. "I'll walk you to the door, at least, give me a sec."

When she came back, he had his jacket on, and he smiled at her, and she smiled back. She walked him to the door to her apartment, and pulled him close for a second for a kiss. 

"I'll call you, Sook, we should do this again some time." He kissed her again. 

"Yeah, you do that." She grinned up at him. 


End file.
